Lowell keeps popping up in the headlines of clickbait articles about “top places to live.” The Town and the City Festival (named after Jack Kerouac’s semiautobiographical novel about his childhood in Lowell) is on the long list of reasons why. The multiday music festival returns every year to the stages, cafes and galleries of “Mill City,” platforming a mix of established artists and a slew of underground acts. This year John Doe (of X) and David Lowery (of Cracker) get top billing, teaming up for a night of ”intimate” and “story-rich” music.